Ex-Auschwitz prisoner, barber to camp commander, dies at 95

WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Jozef Paczynski, a Polish political prisoner at Auschwitz who became the personal barber to camp commander Rudolf Hoess, has died. He was 95.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum confirmed Thursday that Paczynski died on Sunday in the nearby city of Krakow, where he lived.

Paczynski was among the first prisoners of Auschwitz and one of the prisoners to survive there the longest. He was among a group of Polish prisoners of war transported to the camp in 1940 by the Germans.

Upon arrival he was tattooed with the prisoner number 121 and was assigned to a barber shop for the SS men. One day Hoess came and ordered Paczynski to come to his home to trim his hair. He was apparently satisfied because he had Paczynski return many times after that.